The Pirates have hired veteran NBA exec DREW CLOUD as Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer. Cloud, who since January '13 has been working as a VP in the NBA’s Team Marketing & Business Operations division, will begin his new job April 21. He will report to Pirates President FRANK COONELLY. “Drew is an extremely bright and innovative executive with broad and varied experience in professional sports,” Coonelly wrote in an e-mail. “We are fortunate to be able to add Drew to our team at this very exciting time for the Pirates organization.” Cloud is a Pittsburgh native who previously worked for Madison Square Garden Sports and for the Suns. He replaces LOU DEPAOLI, who left the Pirates last July to join the Mets. “The opportunity to align yourself with something you are passionate about and at the right level of your career is pretty unique,” Cloud said. The NBA has not yet replaced Cloud. “Drew has contributed a tremendous amount to TMBO and the NBA during his tenure with us,” NBA Senior VP/Team Marketing & Business Operations AMY BROOKS wrote in an e-mail. “While we would have loved for him to stay, we understood that this leadership opportunity in his hometown of Pittsburgh was something he couldn’t pass up.”